Fire protection fee bills begin to show up in mailboxes

If you are a property owner in many parts of Mono County, you may get a $150 bill from the state this month, a bill that is due at the end of the month. Called the “State Responsibility Area” (SRA) fees, the fees are supposed to help the state pay for fire protection for certain state lands. The fees became law last year and went into effect Oct. 1. The law will also affect mobile homes with DMV registration.

The SRA fee law was fought last year by Mono County Supervisors and other rural county supervisors who believe the fee will present undue hardship to property owners already stretched too thin. But rural county concerns did not prevail in Sacramento, according to Mono County Supervisor Hap Hazard and the fees are now law.

The fees can be appealed and, in fact, the state has already received thousands of appeals the first week (this week) the bills were sent out, Hazard told the board of supervisors Tuesday. For more information from a group that is fighting the fees, go to calfirefee.com.